MLK's Southern Campaign Flashcards
What organisation was MLK the President of?
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
What form of protest did MLK believe in and who inspired him to use it?
Peaceful protests; Mahatma Gandhi
When were the Freedom rides?
1961
Who organised the Freedom rides?
James Farmer
What were the rides designed to test?
Test if bus restroom facilities had been desegregated after the 1961 Supreme Court ruling made them
What did the Freedom riders know they’d find in the Deep South?
That the desegregation would get less and less and receive more and more violence
Why did Farmer plan the crisis?
Had the intention to provoke a crisis
How would the publicity of the rides affect the US?
The world would look in disappointment at the US’s inability to desegregate efficiently
Why did Farmer believe that this was the only way forward?
Seemed like the only way to get the government to enforce segregation rather than just pass it
What occurred at the first few buses?
Riders were attacked and beaten up at several stops
What happened at Anniston, Alabama?
One bus was firebombed after being chased by 50 cars (some being police cars), which the media covered as shocking to show the violent levels
What happened to Freedom riders?
They were imprisoned or beaten up
